Open to all UBC School of Music students, the annual Concerto Competition is an opportunity for young musicians to earn a coveted spot as a soloist with the UBC Symphony Orchestra.
Competitors select virtuosic works that highlight their exceptional technical and expressive abilities as musicians.
Thank you to Jonathan Girard, Director of Orchestras and a special thank you to jury members Denise Ball, Jesse Read and Xin Xin for their sound judgement.
Congratulations to all finalists!
Program
6:00 pm
Anastasia Lutsenk (voice)
Hector Berlioz: Les nuits d’été, H. 81
i. Villanelle
ii. Le Spectre de la rose
iii. Sur les lagunes: lamento
iv. Absence
v. Au cimetière: clair de lune
vi. L’Ile inconnue: barcarolle
6:30 pm
Sebastian Rendon (clarinet)
Artie Shaw: Clarinet Concerto
6:40 pm
Hilary Chan (violin)
Maurice Ravel: Tzigane
6:50 pm
Brian Sun (piano)
Sergei Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43
Interval – (7:15 –7:30 pm)
7:30 pm
Thyme Shi (saxophone)
Ingolf Dahl: Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Wind Orchestra
i. Recitative
ii. Adagio (Passacalgia)
iii. Rondo alla marcia: Allegro brioso
7:51 pm
Obi Ifediora (voice)
Felix Mendelssohn: Elijah, Op. 70 – “Es ist genug”
7:58 pm
Hamilton Lau (piano )
Sergei Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 16
i. Andantino – Allegretto
ii. Scherzo: Vivace
iii. Intermezzo: Allegro moderato
iv. Finale: Allegro tempestoso
8:30 pm
Julian Lee De Vita (violoncello)
Erich Korngold: Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra, Op. 37
Previous winners
2025: Sunny Wu (Concertino da camera for Alto Saxophone & Orchestra by Jacques Ibert)
2024: Harry Xie (Concerto for Alto Saxophone by Henri Tomasi)
2023: Jaeden Izik-Dzurko (Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 18, by Sergei Rachmaninoff))
2021: Hamilton Lau piano (Piano Concerto No. 1 in F-sharp minor, Op. 1 by Sergei Rachmaninoff)
2020: Bernardino Assunçao clarinet (Clarinet Concerto, Op. 57 by Carl Nielsen)
2019: D’Arcy Blunston soprano (Les illuminations de Rimbaud, Op. 18 by Benjamin Britten)
2018: Carter Johnson piano (Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Major, Op. 26 by Sergei Prokofiev)
2017: Benjamin Hopkins piano (Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor by Brahms)
2016: Melody Yuan violin (Violin Concerto No. 1 in D Major by Sergei Prokofiev)
2015: Ryan Essau flute (Concerto for Flute by Jacques Ibert )
